Between the charm, the picturesque location and the five star service, it is little wonder that weddings here are extremely popular. Medieval features, roaring fires in winter, wood panelled walls and award-winning food, makes for exquisite occasions, whether it’s for two or 100 people to enjoy.

The name doesn’t lie. There’s plenty of good cheer, from falcons to fireworks, for guests at this 19th-century mansion. With four rooms for civil ceremonies, and a host of atmospheric local churches, celebrations can embrace the main house or use a marquee for large parties.

From the landscaped gardens with ‘a five-star view’ over Rutland Water to the Michelin-starred dining, Tim and Stefa Hart’s acclaimed hotel nails English country house excellence.

‘A most beautiful building in lovely, peaceful grounds with a wooded walk down to the river,’ say Guide insiders of the Murray family’s splendid stone manor house.

Readers are ‘unable to fault anything at all’ at this ivy-clad country house hotel on the edge of the New Forest, ‘the ultimate luxurious and indulgent treat’.

It’s all about the sublime seaside setting at Keith Makepeace’s family-centric, dog-friendly hotel with ‘amazing views to take your breath away’.

Overlooking the racecourse and surrounded by gardens and parkland, this gem of a William and Mary house with its ‘stunning exterior’ feels deeply rural yet is just over a mile from York.

A photographer’s dream, this Elizabethan manor house stands in gardens and parkland, with mountain views. A spa, oak-panelled drawing room, romantic four-poster suite, stone cottages with roses round the door. . . What more could you ask?

Behind a Georgian facade, Lawrence Hoskins’s rambling coaching inn, with beams, wood panelling and ‘elegant period windows’, embodies the remains of far older buildings.

Traditional and cosy, it’s a storybook location for a wedding, catering for anything from two to 60 guests in the hotel restaurant, up to 90 extending across to the conservatory or up to 150 guests in a marquee in the grounds.

As you approach this glorious Italianate Thames-side summer palace designed by Charles Barry and set in 376 acres of National Trust grounds, it ‘feels as if you are on the film set of Pride and Prejudice’, says a Guide insider (see also Chewton Glen, New Milton).

This country hotel ticks all the boxes – historic building, beautiful gardens, smart bedrooms, relaxed dining, spa and pool – while retaining a homely feel.

It’s much easier to enjoy the ‘exceptional wine list’ and elegant interiors of this ivy-clad town house hotel, owned by a Master of Wine and an interior designer, now that the new A14 bypasses the town, cutting down traffic noise, and a great benefit for the terrace and lovely garden in the warmer months.

With its towers and battlements, wood-panelled walls and ornate ceilings, this Victorian-folly castle set in acres of grounds still manages to be ‘very relaxed; we never felt we had to be on our best behaviour’.

The property is ideal for elegant country weddings - accommodating up to 60 people for ceremonies in the barn and 80 people for receptions, the day is complete with award-winning dining and a bar serving a selection of more than 150 gins!

Up to 75 people can attend your garden wedding ceremony in the Gazebo at this smart hotel (smaller gatherings in the lounge, garden room and conservatory restaurant). You want a Daimler? A magician? A string quartet? They have the contacts.

Lord Byron married Annabella Milbanke at this Georgian mansion turned spa hotel. The union didn’t fare well, but the hotel’s wedding packages, named after their brilliant daughter, Ada Lovelace, include everything from use of the ballroom to champagne.

Queen Victoria thought of Italy as she viewed the ‘red cliffs and rocks and wooded hills’ that surround pebbly Babbacombe Bay, and for la dolce vita look no further than this spa hotel.

The River Nith ripples past the garden of Jane and Ian McAndrew’s old manse and gastronomic destination, in a rolling landscape with views to the Lowther hills.

A sense of old-world elegance where ‘style is a central feature’ can be found in this independent boutique hotel not far from the cathedral.

There is space for up to 65 guests to attend a ceremony, while the grounds would accommodate a marquee for up to 120 guests at your reception. Smaller receptions can also take place inside the hotel with guests enjoying the chance to roam from the bar to the snug.

Studied eccentricity abounds at this Georgian house on the market square with most rooms styled on a geographic theme – and a hairdresser and boutique on site.

Every Dog has its day, and Marc Bridgen’s canine-friendly gastropub-with-rooms has been garnering awards since his family took it on in 2016.

In a ‘lovely position’ by Beauly Firth, this handsome 17th-century mansion stands in large grounds that lead into woodland laced with walking paths – look out for the brown hares and roe deer who like to visit.

Approach this 18th-century mansion, exulting in 500 acres of parkland and gardens, down a mile-long avenue of lime and beech trees: what awaits is ‘very grand and lovely’.

Jan and Adam Moore’s relaxed, pet-friendly country hotel is in an 18th-century sporting lodge surrounded by mature gardens and woodland.

Heathery tones and tweedy fabrics bring a breath of fresh Orkney air to this family-owned hotel, in a peaceful area just beyond the city centre.

The slightly austere facade of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s hotel on the Chatsworth Estate belies the country house comforts within.

This Lutyens-style Arts and Crafts manor house with wood panelling and leaded windows presides over landscaped grounds, with lawns, ponds, rose and herb gardens.

Fun time, mucking-in time and adult ‘me time’ are all part of the deal at this rambling Jacobean manor turned child-friendly and dog-friendly hotel, with extensive grounds.

In summer, visitors buzz like contented bees around a garden of almost 400 herb varieties at Nicholas Dickinson’s Georgian merchant’s house-turned-hotel.

It feels a bit as if you’ve fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole, at this whimsical, dog-friendly hotel with a ‘spectacular bay setting’ by the Coast Path.

‘We have always loved the house and gardens and river views,’ say Guide regulars of this ‘very friendly’ hotel in the heart of the Brecon Beacons national park.

From an intimate ceremony in the Paris Room to a large gathering in the Terrace restaurant, with Gertrude Jekyll-inspired gardens outside and four-poster suites above, this New Forest hotel can lay on the full Monty.

Rising above the reed beds and River Glaven in a pretty village no longer ‘next the sea’, Julian and Carolyn Godlee’s 19th-century windmill offers characterful accommodation.

It’s one long round of fun at this family-friendly hotel, centred on a Georgian manor house overlooking Chesil Beach and the Fleet Lagoon.

There are lots of good things to report about this family-friendly spa hotel this year.

Twitchers are in their element at Titchwell, with an RSPB nature reserve just up the road – but so too are foodie couples, beach-seeking families and dogs, who can eat with their owners in the casual Eating Rooms.

Devoted to leisure and pleasure, Richard Seton’s spa hotel overlooking the Dart estuary is a perennial readers’ favourite.